Nuclear arms in hands of Israel threatens intl. peace, Iran says

Reza Najafi, Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on Friday that “nuclear weapons in the hands of such regime with a history full of aggression, occupation and state-terrorism is a threat to the international peace and security.”

In a statement read out to the IAEA Board of Governors meeting on “Israeli Nuclear Capabilities”, Najafi also said, “Ignoring the legitimate international concerns by refraining to adhere to the NPT, this regime with blind support of some countries, continuously advances its unlawful nuclear capabilities with the hidden involvement of certain States, in flagrant breach of all international norms and regulations.”

Following is full text of the statement published by IRNA:

Since the issue of Israeli nuclear capability was raised by distinguished Representative of Iraq on behalf of Arab Group, and while sharing their concerns on the issue, I would like to restate the position of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Israeli nuclear capability with the exclusive military purpose has always been a source of serious concern for the peoples of the region and international community. The Heads of State or Government of the Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) in the Final Document of its 16th Summit expressed grave concern over the acquisition of nuclear capability by Israel, which poses a serious and continuing threat to the security of neighboring and other States. They also condemned it for continuing to develop and stockpile nuclear arsenals. In the same document, they “reiterated their support for the efforts of the Arab Group in Vienna to keep the question of the Israeli nuclear capabilities under consideration” of the IAEA. They urged that the continued consideration of this issue in the context of the IAEA is completely relevant.

Since 1982, the IAEA has passed several resolutions, made decisions and called upon this regime to promptly accede to the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) and put all of its clandestine nuclear facilities under the Agency’s full scope safeguards. Furthermore, the Final Document of the 2010 NPT Review Conference recalled “the reaffirmation by the 2000 Review Conference of the importance of Israel’s accession to the Treaty and the placement of all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive IAEA safeguards'. Ignoring the legitimate international concerns by refraining to adhere to the NPT, this regime with blind support of some countries, continuously advances its unlawful nuclear capabilities with the hidden involvement of certain States, in flagrant breach of all international norms and regulations. It is crystal clear that such violation not only jeopardizes the regional and global security but also seriously undermines the Agency’s verification mechanism.

As it was also called by the NAM, there must be the total and complete prohibition of the transfer of all nuclear-related equipment, information, material and facilities, resources or devices and the extension of assistance in the nuclear related scientific or technological fields to Israel. The Islamic Republic of Iran expresses its deep concern over the serious negative implications on security in the region as well as the reliability of the global non-proliferation regime whereby Israeli scientists are generously provided access to the nuclear facilities of certain Nuclear Weapon States (NWSs). Such access has been provided to scientists of a non-party to the NPT with an underground nuclear military program while nuclear scientists of NPT Parties have been assassinated all over the Middle East by terrorists recruited by this regime. Nuclear weapons in the hands of such regime with a history full of aggression, occupation and state-terrorism is a threat to the international peace and security.

The failure of the NPT 2015 Review Conference due to the position of 3 countries, in support of a non-party to the NPT is a serious setback and regrettable. States Parties to the Treaty, in the first session of the Preparatory Committee of upcoming NPT Review Conference, held in May 2017 here in Vienna, expressed their concern on such failure.

Therefore, my delegation is of the view that pending the materialization of the international community’s call for the adherence of Israel to the NPT without any condition and placement of all its clandestine nuclear facilities under the full-scope safeguards of the IAEA, it is quite reasonable that the issue of Israeli nuclear capabilities, as a real threat to international peace and security remains on the agenda of the IAEA.